Loaded Scalloped Potatoes

Learn how to make these delicious Loaded Scalloped Potatoes with lots of bacon and cheddar cheese. Comfort food at its finest, easy to make and you’ll end up with cheesy, creamy, tender potatoes every single time!

One of my favorite side dishes ever, right next to mashed potatoes, has to be these scalloped potatoes that are loaded with cheese and bacon, they’re creamy and so tender. What can I say other than I love my comfort food, and these scalloped potatoes scream comfort food.

While scalloped potatoes are usually a holiday side dish, I love mine for our Sunday dinners next to a nice roast chicken. My favorite part about these scalloped potatoes though has to be that top crust, which is why usually I like to put the broiler on for the last 5 minutes to get a nice crust going on, but maybe that’s just me. Sometimes I don’t even have them as a side dish, I just scoop some up into a plate and enjoy them on their own, they really are filling and fulfilling.

The sauce is similar to a bechamel sauce, equal parts butter and flour, then add in your liquids and spices. I did add some garlic to my sauce because otherwise it wouldn’t be a Jo Cooks recipe if there was no garlic. As for the liquids I chose heavy cream and no sodium chicken broth. If you want to cut out some of the fat, you could use milk but if you’re making this for the holidays I recommend you go all out and use heavy cream.

The cheddar cheese is what makes these potatoes super cheesy and of course let’s not forget the bacon. I would say the bacon is optional but we all know bacon makes everything better so you MUST add bacon, because if you’re going to have scalloped potatoes you might as well go all out. These scalloped potatoes are what comfort food is all about.

Check out the video!

If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!

Learn how to make these delicious Loaded Scalloped Potatoes with lots of bacon and cheddar cheese. Comfort food at its finest, easy to make and you'll end up with cheesy, creamy, tender potatoes every single time!

Melt the butter in a saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until the garlic is aromatic.

Sprinkle the flour over the garlic/butter then whisk well until combined with the butter. Add the chicken broth and whisk until combined. It should look like a thick paste. Cook for another minute while stirring, then add the heavy cream and whisk until smooth.

Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Continue cooking for 2 more minutes until the sauce comes to a simmer and thickens. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside.

Start layering. Start with a spreading a couple ladlefuls of the sauce over the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread a third of the sliced potatoes over the sauce in an even layer (see video). Top with more of the sauce to cover the potatoes. Top with a third of the cheddar cheese and then a third of the bacon. You should have enough ingredients for 3 layers of potatoes. Continue layering with potatoes, sauce, cheese, bacon and repeat. Finally sprinkle with half the chives.

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and finish baking for for another 45 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.

Garnish with remaining chives and serve warm.

Recipe Notes

Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

*Make ahead tips: Prepare everything up to and including step 5, cover with foil and refrigerate over night. The next day when ready to bake preheat the oven and bake as instructed.

Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. Your purchase helps support my work and helps in maintaining this blog, while at no extra cost to you.

Let me just say that Jo definitely knows how to cook ! I made this recipe as a side dish for Jo’s Instant Pot Turkey Breast recipe. Yum. Yum. This scalloped potato recipe is incredibly delicious. I will be taking this dish to my relative’s house for Thanksgiving dinner….. To make the recipe, I used my OXO Mandolin Slicer for the potatoes, and I baked my 12 slices of bacon in the oven on a cookie sheet @ 400 for 15 minutes since it was already preheated. 🙂 Thanks Jo

I made this for dinner, last night, and it was AMAZING! (It’s also incredibly rich, with all of that cream, butter and cheese, so I’ll probably only make it a couple times per year.)

I substituted tapioca flour for the wheat flour, due to a medical issue my girlfriend has. That made getting the roux-based cream sauce to the proper consistency more of a challenge than expected. I ended up with more sauce than I needed, but I’m sure it won’t go to waste (though possibly to waist!).

I also used some spiral-sliced ham left over from another dinner in place of the bacon. Apart from those minor changes I made the recipe as directed.

This was easily one of the most delicious scalloped potatoes recipes I have tasted. It would be just as impressive served as a side dish at a fancy holiday dinner. It’s definitely a keeper!

This is a bit off topic but if you have a recipe for Supa de Galuste could you please do a post on how to make it? It was my favorite soup when I lived in Romania but I never could figure what american ingredients to use in the dumplings. Multsumesc